


The Good Teacher

by siangjiang



Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Carol is saving the universe, Character Death, Combat Training, F/F, F/M, Gen, Major character death - Freeform, Parenthood, Yon-Rogg is good with children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 00:43:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19188457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siangjiang/pseuds/siangjiang
Summary: Monica might complain more than his young recruits back on Hala, but she is by no means a bad student.





	The Good Teacher

“You have to place your feet wider apart and bend your knees. It will ground you better. That way you can put more force behind your punches and make you difficult to knock over. It’s perfect for both attack and defense”

Monica spreads her legs more but Yon-Rogg still has to tap the inside of her foot with the tip of his shoe. “Wider”

“I feel stupid”

“Doesn’t matter as long as you do it” Yon-Rogg gets into the pose he wants her to take “Like this”

She might complain more than his young recruits back on Hala, but she is by no means a bad student. Seeing him do it gives her more confidence and she mimics him perfectly.

“Very good” he says and she beams up at him. His own combat teacher wasn’t big on positive reinforcement but working with children had taught Yon-Rogg how effective it is. “Now, when kicking turn your body and use it as a counterweight to your legs. You’ll be surprised by how hard you can kick”

They train nothing but kicks for the rest of the lesson until he has to stop her.

“I’m not tired!” she says and jumps on the spot to prove it, her curls bouncing delightfully “I was just figuring the technique out!”

“You have to rest or you’ll damage your joints” he tells her “And then you’ll become a worse warrior. Go get something to drink and eat while I sweep the mat. I’ll join you later”

She pouts but does as told and disappears into the kitchen. He can tell Carol helped raise her, but luckily she got some of her mother’s gentle and attentive nature too which makes her much easier to teach than Carol. With role models like them she’ll be a great warrior someday, no doubt about it. A shame they aren’t here.

Yon-Rogg starts sweeping. He doesn’t like dwelling on the past. Get over it and move on, that’s how he was raised and it has worked pretty well for him, but he understands that not everybody are like that. He’s not sure if Monica is still grieving over her mother. She hasn’t said anything but she must be. One early morning, not long after they moved into the house, he woke up to find her sleeping on the floor besides his bed. He carried her into her own room, but the next night she was back. When he asked her why all she said was “I’m scared”. They moved her mattress into his room after that, and that night he woke up with his arm hanging over the edge and her small fingers holding his hand.

The funeral had been one of the most devastating things Yon-Rogg had experienced. He had spent years trying to make Carol less emotional but when she saw Maria in the open casket she completely broke down. She just sobbed and sobbed until Monica took her hand and Carol bent down and hugged her. They didn’t make a big show out of it but it was a bigger display of emotion than Yon-Rogg was comfortable with. He stayed for theirs and Maria’s sake.

He liked Maria. She hadn’t initially liked him, and he had to admit he felt some level of jealousy at first, but once they got past all that they worked quite well together. He suspected she came around after seeing him with Monica. After all, he hadn’t gotten the job as a teacher just because of his role as Kree poster boy. Children liked him, he liked them and Monica was a great kid. Full of energy and excitement.

That was how he and Monica had ended up in this situation; in a small house on a strange planet, just the two of them most of the time. Before she died from a Kree gunblast she had asked Carol to take care of Monica. “No, no” Carol had smiled through her tears “You’re coming with us home. You can take care of her yourself and see her grow old and, and, I can keep helping people and-“

Yon-Rogg had put a hand on her shoulder and looked at Maria “I can take her. If you want”

Maria had looked at him, clearly in pain but level headed enough to think it over for a second before nodding. Carol kissed her forehead “I won’t abandon her, I promise. I’ll always be there for her and come see her as often as I can”

“You better” Maria chocked.

They had both kept their promises. He was enjoying this quiet way of life, devoting his time to Monica and her training, and every now and then a flash of light would announce Carol’s arrival into the atmosphere. If he didn’t see it himself, Monica’s exited squeals were sure to alert him.

“She seems happy, under the circumstances” Carol had told him on one of her visits “You’re doing great”

He didn’t say anything. Just smiled. He didn’t want Carol to know, but he had been worried he wasn’t the best guardian for Monica, so Carol’s words meant a lot. She knew Monica better.

“She has started talking about going on adventures with you” he had told her “So this won’t last forever. Some day you’ll have to take her with you”

“Of course. But she needs to get better at fighting first. And I have to find a spaceship somewhere...”

In the kitchen he hears something drop on the floor with a wooden tud “Oops! It didn’t break!” she shouts and Yon-Rogg smiles. He hopes Maria doesn’t mind that he has come to think of Monica as his daughter too.


End file.
